


You'll remember me

by static_abyss



Series: Soul Marks [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-14
Updated: 2015-01-14
Packaged: 2018-03-07 14:17:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3175810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/pseuds/static_abyss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lot of people, like Allison's grandparents, don't ever make a match. Sometimes soulmates die before they can meet, like what happened to her aunt Kate. Very few people <em>do</em> match, and sometimes those who do, don't match right away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aroceu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroceu/gifts).



> Inspired in great part by Words on my skin, Love in my heart. It is an amazing fic and so beautifully written. I highly recommend it. 
> 
> This fic is number 3 of 5 of Rose's birthday fics. (Numbers [1](http://static-abyss.tumblr.com/post/89112001363/allison-kira-pg-allison-is-the-first-girl-kira) and [2](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2415590)). My plan now is to get the rest done before Rose's next birthday.

Melissa McCall has the words "you look lovely, tonight" in light gray on her forearm from the moment she is born. The words get larger as she gets older until they run from the inside of her elbow to the very edge of her wrist. She likes to stare at them growing up, takes comfort in them when she meets Scott's dad and her words "so you're a cop?" burn black against his chest. 

Rafael never says Melissa's words aloud and when he leaves, she stares at the words on her forearm and knows that there's someone else out there for her. There's someone who will look at her and mean it when he calls her "lovely."

-

Sheriff Stilinski is born with the words "it must be my lucky day" running in a circle around his ankle. He has a second set of words along the middle of his back that say "are you flirting with me, sheriff?" 

That's how he knows he's going to be a sheriff, and it helps take away some of the anxiety when he goes to school. When he signs on with the Beacon Hills Sheriff's Department, he already knows that the biggest office is going to be his, one day. 

When he meets Claudia, the words along his ankle burn until they turn black, and his "I'm going to have to give you a ticket" stands out clearly around Claudia's wrist. He doesn't give her a ticket and it's a great story to tell Stiles when he asks how they met. 

They never do get around to telling him that the second set of words on the Sheriff's back never turn black. The Sheriff never really gives them any thought, not until the day Stiles is crying next to his mother's coffin. On that day, for the first time, the sheriff hates the person who will speak those words to him.

-

Stiles has the words "Do you remember how it was before?" in a diagonal line on his right palm. The words are small so they're easy to hide. When his mother dies, he stares at them until they're burned into the back of his eyelids, and he wonders if somewhere out there, someone has a single "yes" on their body.

\- 

Scott has the words "Does it hurt?" in light gray on his stomach.

On nights when his asthma gets too bad, he likes to stare at them and come up with different answers. He likes to think that the words on his soulmate change depending on Scott's mood. When he tells Stiles, they sit together for hours coming up with different answers and laughing about the poor person whose words keep changing.

Soul marks don't work that way, but it makes Scott feel better to think they do, because he doesn't want to imagine someone out there with the word "yes" on their body.

-

Jackson Whittemore has "you're not my type" going from the bottom of his sternum all the way up to his right collarbone. He's five when his parents tell him he's adopted, and six when he finally comes to terms with the fact that not even his soulmate wants him.

-

Danny has "i'm everybody's type" along his sternum and he imagines his soulmate as a lean, cocky guy who winks a lot. He likes to think the lack of proper capitalization means his soulmate doesn't give a fuck what anyone thinks of them. It's good because Danny has a type, and his type is his soulmate.

-

Allison is born with two sets of words wrapped like bands around both her upper arms. The words on her right say, "you're my best friend." The ones on the left read, "nice bow." 

From the moment she is old enough to understand, Allison knows she is lucky. A lot of people, like her grandparents, don't ever make a match. Sometimes soulmates die before they can meet, like what happened to her aunt Kate. Very few people _do_ match, and sometimes those who do, don't match right away. Her mother's words didn't turn black until Allison was ten years old, but her dad's words had been black even before Allison was born.

Allison's bands remind her that not only is she lucky enough to have two soulmates, but that one of them is going to be her best friend. 

-

Lydia's words are two halves of a heart on either forearm. When she brings her arms together, they form a small heart just under her wrist, and cliched as that may be, Lydia is proud of the light gray "I believe in you" and the matching "I love you too."

She learns to accept that she likes cliches, from a very young age.

-

Kira has two sets of words looping around her ankles. She grows up worrying that she might have to pick between two people, so she learns to be extra nice to everyone she meets in an attempt to make up for what she thinks she's going to have to do. 

It hurts her to think that she might have to say no to "you love her," because even at ten, Kira already loves "is that obsidian?" She loves them both, and it hurts her to think that one day, one of her soulmates is going to know that she doesn't love them enough.

She's young. She doesn't know yet that it's possible to love two people at once.

-

Erica's words are "you're so beautiful" and she takes extra care to hide that spot on the back of her leg growing up. She doesn't even let her mom see it once she's old enough to stop her.

The words belong to Erica alone and she tries so hard her entire life to believe this person she's never met. They're comforting after each seizure, like a little reminder that everything will be okay.

Somehow, they're still not enough.

-

Boyd doesn't believe in soulmates. He resents the light gray "You need me," because Boyd doesn't need anyone. Not even his parents who abandon him the day his sister goes missing. They don't go anywhere, but Boyd feels alone anyway. He learns to take care of himself, to keep quiet and away from others at school so no one else has the opportunity to leave him.

He's fine on his own and he definitely does not need anyone.


	2. Chapter 2

Jackson doesn't hate his adoptive parents, but he doesn't ever really love them either. He is grateful for the things they give him, but even _he_ knows that he shouldn't feel as though he owes them something, everyday of his life. 

He is thirteen when he meets Danny and by then, he's grown used to the gauze he wraps around the "you're not my type" before school. Danny just never takes off his undershirt.

They're fourteen, the first time Danny rolls his eyes and says, "You're not my type."

Jackson is too shocked to say anything besides, "I'm everybody's type."

It comes out slightly rude because Jackson's heart is beating too fast in his chest, and the words on his sternum feel like they're burning even though they aren't. Not the way they're supposed to.

Danny stares back, eyes wide, his hand going up to the center of his chest where Jackson just _knows_ his words will be. He doesn't press because Jackson's not ready to be Danny's soulmate and Danny's not ready to be his.

-

Danny has a type and on some days, it scares him how close to Stiles his type seems to be. The problem is, growing up, he'd assumed that his soul mate would be his type, but he looks at Jackson and doesn't see it.

"I don't know what horrible thing you did in your past life to deserve this," Lydia is fond of saying.

And yeah, Danny doesn't understand the cruel joke the universe is playing on him by making Jackson his soul mate. But as a friend, Jackson isn't bad. He and Danny have accepted that Jackson is the friend who exaggerates and Danny puts him in his place. Their bickering is comforting, their various eye rolls, warranted.

It feels good to Danny and maybe if he thinks about it that way, he can maybe understand why Jackson is his soul mate.

The light gray letters on his chest, however, say he isn't ready.

*

Danny is seventeen, and sort of dating a guy named Ethan, when Jackson pulls up to Danny's front porch in his ridiculous Porsche.

Danny has a date in an hour, but Jackson slams the car door a little too hard and Danny knows they'll be a while. He takes his jacket off the hook next to the door and steps outside just as Jackson is climbing the last porch step.

"Is Ethan really your type?" Jackson asks.

Danny raises an eyebrow, expecting a lecture. Jackson says nothing else though, just stares at Danny with wide, hurt eyes that look more hopeful the longer Danny stays quiet.

Danny waits a little longer, just to think it through. Ethan is shorter than Danny, broad everywhere, and kind. He takes Danny out on dates and kisses him after. He's also a werewolf, but then, Jackson was a giant lizard, once.

Danny looks back at Jackson, shrugs, and says, "Yes."

Jackson is grinning, confidence rolling off him as he gives Danny a once over. "Your soulmate's not your type though," he says.

They look at each other, and Danny knows what's happening. He can feel the heat starting on the bottom of his sternum, a kindness so that he can be prepared for what's coming. He can see the wild expression on Jackson's eyes, and it figures that they're the kind of people whose words turn at the same time. Because _of course_ , the entire universe and their mom thinks they're perfect for each other.

"You're not my type," Danny says.

Jackson, the asshole, grins and unbuttons his jacket.

"I'm everybody's type," he says, just as the "pe" on Jackson's collarbone darkens from gray to black.

Danny feels the words on his chest burning and thinks that maybe, Jackson has a point.

-

Stiles knows he loves Scott from the moment they meet. 

There's a mutual understanding between them, an unspoken truth about who they are to each other. Neither of them has to say it aloud. They both just know that whatever happens, it will always be them against the world. But it isn't until Scott is standing in a puddle of gasoline, a red flare clutched in his fist, that Stiles realizes what it really means to believe that, no matter what happens, Scott McCall _has to_ be in his life.

He's sixteen years old and terrified because his best friend wants to die. Scott looks at him, and Stiles sees the guilt and the seemingly insurmountable pain. In that moment, he wants nothing more than to pull Scott against him and rip apart anything that tries to hurt him. But Scott is standing in front of him wanting to die and Stiles doesn't know what to do.

Then, Scott says, "Do you remember how it was before?"

And all Stiles can do is close his right hand around the flare in Scott's hand and let the burning in his palm tell him what he already knows: he would die for Scott McCall.

-

Scott loves Allison with all his heart, but when she speaks the words on his stomach, they don't turn, and he doesn't even need to say her words to know they won't turn either. It's okay though, because they're in high school and Scott has never loved anyone the way he loves Allison.

When they break up, neither of them holds any grudges. After all their fighting, after the hunters and Peter, after all the death, all either of them wants is some peace.

When Scott meets Kira and she shows him the words on her ankles, he knows they're not soulmates. He wants to tell her it's Allison, but it's not his place, and with the nogitsune mess, he forgets.

*

When Stiles touches the spot where the nogitsune stuck a sword into Scott's stomach, both of them know what's going to happen next.

Stiles's fingers are warm against the words on Scott's stomach, and his eyes are wide when he looks at Scott. There's a wild thumping in Scott's ears, and a lump in his throat that he can't seem to swallow past. He watches as Stiles rests his right palm flat against the words on Scott's stomach.

"Does it hurt?" Stiles breathes.

Scott exhales and remembers the scar on his hip from when Stiles pushed him into the coffee table. He remembers the stitches from when they tried to build a treehouse, the pain from the chipped tooth when they were ten. He remembers the sword in his stomach and the unfamiliarity of Stiles's face.

Those pains are nothing to what Scott felt when he thought Stiles was dying. They're nothing to almost losing his best friend and soulmate, to almost not getting this moment.

"No," he says, because the burning words on his stomach aren't even close to pain.

-

Boyd is tired of fighting battles that were never his to fight on the day his words turn black.

He's tired of being thrown around, of doing what Derek thinks is right even when Boyd has his doubts. He didn't want to kill Lydia if she was the kanima, and he doesn't want to kill Jackson now that they know it's him. But Derek isn't good yet at asking any of them what they want so, Boyd leaves.

Or he tries to, but Erica is smart and she's standing in front of the burned down Hale house, arms crossed, and lipstick bright red on her mouth.

"You going somewhere?" she asks, nodding at the duffel bag on Boyd's shoulder.

Boyd stares at her and doesn't want to lie. "Yeah," he says. "I'm leaving."

She doesn't seem surprised, just understanding, as though maybe she feels the weight of it all too.

"You should take me with you," she says, voice so quiet Boyd wouldn't have heard it before becoming a werewolf.

"Why?" he asks.

But he already knows her answer, because Boyd has read it over and over all his life. He almost says it with her, the confident, "because you need me," echoing in the empty spaces of his chest.

For the first time in his life, the words are comforting.

-

Erica's words had turned black the day she met Vernon Boyd. But by then, she didn't need to hear him say the words. She already knew them to be true.

-

Allison and Lydia know they're soulmates on the day that Lydia hears the first cries.

There is so much noise in Lydia's head, so much pain, so many people wanting to get through to her. She feels them on her skin, like they're weighing her down. She clutches at her head to get them to stop, and Allison is there, her hands cool on Lydia's forehead.

"What's wrong?" Allison asks.

But Lydia is so afraid that she's finally snapped. She shakes her head. "No," she says. "You won't believe me."

Allison holds her tighter, her long black hair covering Lydia's face. It should be safe there with Allison, but Lydia can't bring herself to say what's wrong.

"I'm your friend, right?" Allison asks, her body going eerily still.

Lydia has seen the bands around Allison's arms, so she knows what she has to say next.

"You're my best friend," Lydia whispers.

Allison exhales shakily on the top of Lydia's head. They pull away to look at each other, and Lydia has never been more glad to have Allison in her life than at that moment.

"I hear screams," Lydia tells her.

"I believe you," Allison says.

-

Kira is eighteen and a high school graduate when the rogue omega comes to Beacon Hills. It should be easy to get the omega to leave, but then there's a witch and one spell later, there are seven omegas.

Kira is supposed to be helping her parents make dinner, but instead she's in a clearing in the middle of the forest fighting alongside Allison to keep Lydia safe. They manage to push the three omegas towards where Derek has a trap waiting. It's cold. The night is too dark. They're all probably going to die, so of course, that's when Allison notices the black star on Kira's sword.

"Is that obsidian?" Allison asks.

Kira gapes, her heart hammering away in her chest. She has been waiting her whole life for this moment, and she's so glad that it's Allison because Kira loves her so much already.

"Yes," Kira says, and then, because she doesn't know what to do, "Nice bow."

And it's Lydia who speaks next.

"You love her," she says.

It's not an accusation, like Kira expected. There's no sadness, no desire on Kira's part to reject Lydia. Lydia's words sound like amazement in Kira's ears, like the last puzzle piece fitting into place.

"I love you, too," Kira tells her, because she's loved both of these girls for a long time now.

-

Melissa is coming out of a 14-hour-shift, when she runs into Sheriff Stilinski. Her hair is a mess and the bags under her eyes must look awful, but the Sheriff stops when he sees her.

"You look lovely tonight, Melissa," he says.

And all Melissa McCall can do is grin so wide her cheeks hurt and say, "Are you flirting with me, Sheriff?"

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [maybe that's just not the way for us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3861013) by [erialeduab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/erialeduab/pseuds/erialeduab)




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